UAE consumers will soon be able to buy lipstick, other cosmetics with Halal mark

By Waheed Abbas – Emirates 24/7

Last year alone, UAE residents spent nine per cent more on personal care products to Dh 5.3bn, according to Euromonitor International. (Ashok Verma)

The UAE’s standardisation body Esma will issue halal mark and certification to foreign companies for their beauty products looking to tap the mass halal market.

Abdulla Abdulqader Al Maeeni, Acting Director-General for Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (Esma), said a number of companies are looking for halal mark and certification for their products and Esma will provide this opportunity to them in order to ensure that the products are Shariah-compliant and compatible for exports.

“We have introduced our standard mark of halal, which will be announced on the first day of the Beautyworld Middle East exhibition starting next week. This mark and certification will be granted to companies or manufacturers claiming to have halal products,” he said, adding that some countries are requesting halal mark or certificate so Esma is supporting them to ensure their products are Shariah-compliant. For example, if a government is asking for halal certificate, Esma is issuing them certificates.

“Now halal has become a marketing tool for many companies. To do that we want to make sure and verify that the product is halal,” he added.

The stamp of halal or certification will extend companies’ reach to the Muslim population and tap well over $1 trillion market. According to industry estimates, the halal market is set to reach $10 trillion over the next 15 years.

Maeeni said: “We are introducing to help export halal products to different countries as there are many requirements in term of halal to help them. We have a new complete accreditation system for the halal certification.”

Abdulla said all ingredients in the beauty products have to be halal and in the UAE by default all products are halal.

“Through our port system, we’re making conformity to standardise certificate from the source country. So before exporting to the UAE, the companies should get our certificate for halal to export,” he added.

Last year alone, UAE residents spent nine per cent more on personal care products to Dh 5.3 billion ($1.445 billion) and will see the spending jumping by another half a billion dollar to Dh7.34 billion ($2 billion) in five years, according to Euromonitor International.